


Azgeda's Ice (something sweet and cool)

by jessamurphy



Series: Something Sweet [2]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Ice Cream Parlor, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bad Flirting, Crack, Everbody Is Happy, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Ice Cream, Ice Cream Parlors, Jasper and Octavia and Miller being friends, M/M, Oblivious!Jasper, also Ice Parlor Owner!Roan, also Lincoln walks dogs, also Street Musician!Monty, and Bryan is a lost pup, the ice cream parlor au nobody asked for, this fic has a lot of odd friendships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-07 06:48:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6791887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessamurphy/pseuds/jessamurphy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jasper gets a summerjob at Azgeda's Ice and just tries to survive the boulevard shifts. He also maybe tries to set up Octavia and that dog-walker that walks past the parlor every day, and ends up accidentally getting Miller a date in the process.<br/>Also, there's this honey-voiced boy accompanying him on the boulevard.</p><p>aka the ice cream parlor au nobody asked for and still gets :)</p><p>  <i>Sometimes summer jobs weren’t as fun as they seemed. This was something both Jasper Jordan, Octavia Blake and Nathan Miller soon discovered. The sun was shining brightly upon the boulevard, over which the three of them walked to their jobs at the ice cream parlor. Working in an ice cream parlor had its up- and downsides. Ice cream, for one, was a pretty sweet upside. Screaming and crying kids, for another, were a pretty annoying downside. Some customers were sweet and funny. Some were just downright horrible.</i><br/>Especially the ones coming to the ice-cream carts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Azgeda's Ice (something sweet and cool)

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea where this came from and I'm sorry for the sucky things (like my attempts at humor). I still hope you enjoy tho! It may have come to mind that I actually don't know a thing about 1) American Boulevards or 2) how ice cream parlors work. I think that I might have another view of ice cream carts as well, but I hope this doesn't obstruct any of you.
> 
> This is completely unbeta'd, and it's around 2 in the morning so if there are any mistakes, in grammar or spelling, I'd like to hear it!

Once upon a time, Azgeda’s Ice found its popularity somehow rising, probably partially due to the fact word got out about the hero working there, and partially due to the fact that their ice cream tasted ridiculously good. Roan, the a bit scary yet friendly manager, had to come in to work more and more shift, until he couldn’t take it anymore and put up a flyer announcing they were hiring. This was how Jasper Jordan got his summer job.

 

* * *

 

Sometimes summer jobs weren’t as fun as they seemed. This was something both Jasper Jordan, Octavia Blake and Nathan Miller soon discovered. The sun was shining brightly upon the boulevard, over which the three of them walked to their jobs at the ice cream parlor. Working in an ice cream parlor had its up- and downsides. Ice cream, for one, was a pretty sweet upside. Screaming and crying kids, for another, were a pretty annoying downside. Of course there were always customers who told you to keep the change, but for every customer actually giving you enough money there would be about three others being absolutely nitpicking over every single penny. Every now and then there were customers who actually forgot to take their ice cream with them outside, who came back rushing in moments later, afraid that the ice cream might have melted. Some customers were sweet and funny. Some were just downright horrible.

Especially the ones coming to the ice-cream carts.

Working at the ice-cream cart down the boulevard was both hilarious and horrendous. You could count on the boulevard-shift to be eventful, which could always go both ways. One time, when Nathan Miller was in charge of the ice-cream cart and Octavia was working her shift in the parlor, an actual robbery took place. The criminals weren’t targeting the cart, thank heavens, but it had been stressful nonetheless; Miller hadn’t had a second’s doubt when he’d dropped the scoop and ran after the thieves, adrenaline kicking in, only to come back after the whole ordeal to find a group of snotty kids eating ice-cream out of the cart. Of course. Welcome to America, where people take ice cream while you’re singlehandedly trying to stop criminals robbing others. Miller could’ve sworn that if he hadn’t actually stopped the thieves he would’ve had to pay the money they’d lost to the brats back. 

It had been horrible. It had been awesome.  
Miller still has a lot of mixed feelings about that day.

 

* * *

 

Shifts at the ice-cream parlor were usually split during summer: one was to take the ice-cream cart down the boulevard, while two other employees worked in the parlor itself. The parlor of Azgeda’s Ice was located near the boulevard, but not actually on it; it was caught in between the outskirts and the heart of the city. It attracted enough tourists, as well as kids and other folks in dire need of an ice-cream in the midst of the summer heat, whether it was after a long day on the boulevard or a day out in the city. Where and when Roan had gotten the idea to actually send an ice cream cart down the boulevard, neither Jasper, Miller nor Octavia knew. All they knew was that it worked; on the hottest days there would be endless queues, all day long. Roan had considered putting two people at shift at the cart, but decided the weather was far too unpredictable. If really needed, his employees could always ring him. It was a system that hadn’t failed them so far.

 

* * *

 

Jasper Jordan was the one who ended up taking most of the boulevard-shifts. Miller took a few as well, but Octavia somehow managed to dodge every single one of them. It wasn’t that she wasn’t capable; in contrast, she probably was the most capable of all of them -Roan just needed her in the parlor. Octavia was quick, reliable, and not afraid to bully any difficult customers into being civil. She was a gem. Roan needed to be sure the parlor would be alright; having Octavia work all her shifts in there was one way to make sure of it. That, plus she had practically begged to not have to work the boulevard shifts. Actually, that had been mostly the reason, came to think of it. Roan suspected it had something to do with the guy of the dog-walking service passing by every day.

It totally had something to do with the guy of the dog-walking service passing by every day.

Both Jasper and Miller could tell by the look in Octavia’s eyes that she was totally smitten. They should probably construct a plan to lure the guy in; surely with some good marketing and a few smiles they could get him inside. They could totally make that happen. 

Jasper made a mental side note to talk to Miller about constructing a plan to lure the guy in; first he needed to survive the boulevard shift. The last past days had been crazy, with summer break starting and the weather not being a complete torture, most people had decided to go out and enjoy the weather. Jasper hadn’t had a second to catch his breath.Today didn’t appear to become any different from the previous days in terms of customers; it was only nine in the morning and it was already about 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Jasper could feel it was going to be one of those stuffy days on which you had two options: moving and almost dying, or not moving and almost dying. People coming by the cart usually chose the first. At least they would be enjoying the sweet cooling taste of Azgeda’s ice cream before collapsing thanks to the heat- Jasper figured there’d be worse ways to go. Like by working yourself to death. Which would be totally possible in this heat. 

Jasper was just really glad to be working at an ice cream stand, and not in some sketchy shop or AC-less office. He could only imagine how that would have to feel. 

The hours slowly faded, minutes crawled. Even though the line of queueing people was slimmer every now and then, it didn’t feel that way. There was an endless routine sending Jasper on auto-pilot; he couldn’t wait for the weather to get its shit together and be decent for a change. A small breeze. Temperatures below 96 degrees Fahrenheit. Small things.

Jasper Jordan didn’t think anyone really appreciated this kind of weather, but there he was, and standing in front of them was his old high school teacher Thelonius Jaha, all smiling. Jasper suspected he might be, in fact, high. Which was odd, but seemed possible. With Jaha, you’d never know.  
„Ah, Jasper Jordan,” Jaha said, grin big, „good to see you’ve managed to get a job.”  
Jasper only felt slightly insulted.

„Thanks,” he said, „what do you want?”  


„A cone with chocolate and stracciatella, and one with two scoops of strawberry and one scoop of blueberry,” Jaha ordered. „For the lovely lady over there,” he pointed to a woman standing in a red dress, who was staring off in space. Jasper furrowed his brows for a second, but didn’t comment on the woman who started to slightly creep him out. 

„You know we don’t actually have blueberry ice cream?” he asked, looking at Jaha, who stared at the lady. He pointed at the list of flavors attached to the cart. „These are all the flavors we serve here. Pay Azgeda Parlor a visit if you want more flavors to choose from.” 

„Oh,” Jaha said, considering the list for a moment, „just two scoops of strawberry then.” 

„Sure thing,” Jasper said, naming the price and preparing the ice creams. Jaha took the cones, leaving a ten-dollar bill. „Keep the change, Jasper. And try and keep this job.”  
Jasper only felt slightly insulted.

„It’s a nice one,” Jaha called while walking away. At least he’d had the decency to leave a nice tip, which did really compensate for his existence. 

Kind of.  


 

It was four in the afternoon when Jasper suddenly heard the strumming of a guitar and a voice as sweet as honey. It distracted him for a moment, almost dropping the ice scoop, luckily managing to catch the object before it hit the ground. There was a lot of noise surrounding them, like there always was; screaming children, laughter, rattling machines and screaming seagulls. The boulevard was a lively place to be, and still Jasper had managed to single out that one voice.

It was beautiful. Jasper felt his heart thud. 

„Good day, lil’ fella,” Jasper greeted his next customer, realizing there were people waiting to order.A six year-old boy with a few rumpled dollar bills in his tiny hands stood in front of him. He was adorable. Standing behind him was his grandmother, who was trying to encourage the boy to order. The boy fumbled. „What can I get you?” 

„Vanilla,” the boy decided, then shook his head. „No. Strawberry.”  


„How about both?” Jasper offered, looking agh the grandmother for approval. She smiled while the little boy’s eyes widened. When Jasper looked past her for a second, he could see a boy standing on the other side, acoustic guitar in his hands, eyes closed, lost in the music.  


„Really?” the boy asked both his grandma and Jasper. In the background, the music was still playing.  


„Of course,” his grandmother told him. „If you want both.”  
The boy nodded enthusiastically. Jasper smiled at him and handed him a scone with two scoops; the boy was absolutely beaming. He practically threw the dollar bills at Jasper in exchange for his ice cream, which he immediately started licking ferociously. Jasper handed his grandmother the change before wishing them a good day. Customers like these always made his day.

Around five in the afternoon, there was a visible decline in customers. Most people were getting ready for dinner, leaving the boulevard and walking into the city. This was pretty common; there always was a gap between the the leaving of the day- andthe arriving of the night-crowd. At night, teenaged hearts thrived, young adults making their way through live- a vast contrast to the youth passing at daytime, making their way towards the beach or just enjoying time with family. It was usually the time Jasper started to close up, as they didn’t sell ice-cream past a certain time. Usually, this time was set around seven or eight, depending on how much customers there had been that day. And today, there had been a lot.

„Hey,” Jasper said, finally walking up to the boy who was still sitting there playing the guitar. The boulevard had gotten weirdly empty. At the hearing of Jasper’s voice, the boy interrupted his strumming. He looked up, eyes brown and curious.  
Oh, Jasper thought.  
_Oh._  
He fumbled with his hands while looking at the ice cream cart, making sure no one was actually trying to steal it. It wouldn’t surprise him. Well, in fact, it would- but after he’d heard Miller’s story, he felt he should be prepared for anything. When he looked back, the boy was still looking at him. Jasper mentally slapped himself for thinking this through so poorly; all he’d wanted to do is give the guy some ice cream because his music had been awesome so far.  
And here he was, standing in front of a boy he’d barely seen during the day, who he didn’t know and was undeniably good looking, trying to give ice cream without actually having the ice cream with him. Great plan. Jasper turned around to get the ice-cream.  
The other boy didn’t make a sound until Jasper returned, handing him an ice-cream cone with vanilla and chocolate ice-cream. The boy furrowed his eyebrows.

„Thanks,” he said, sounding slightly confused. He put his guitar in his case before accepting the ice cream. „Why did you give me…?” He gestured at the ice cream.   


„For your music,” Jasper explained. „It sounds good.” 

„Thanks,” the boy smiled. „How much do I owe you?”  


„Nothing,” Jasper answered, giving him a small smile back, trying not to be overwhelmed by the stranger’s smile. „This one’s on me. You deserve it.”

 

* * *

 

„Miller, we need to make a plan.”  


„For whom, may I ask?” Miller raised his eyebrows.  


„O,” Jasper said, „for the dog-guy. We both know she has the hots for him.”  


„The hots? Jasper, please do remind me in which year you were born,” Miller sighed.  


„I won’t,” Jasper answered, „remember you, that is.”  


„Ouch,” Miller says, while cleaning the counter, „that really hurts my fickle heart.” He sighs dramatically before laughing. They were the only ones left in the parlor; Miller and Jasper were both on cleaning corvée. After Jasper had returned the cart to its home, he had joined Miller in the parlor, aching for some kind of social interaction.  
Okay, so he had interacted with the honey voiced street musician. That didn’t really count, though. 

„Well, that means that you at least got a heart,” Jasper grinned while Miller snorted.  


„Yeah, lucky me,” he retorted. „You were talking about needing a plan?”  


„Yes,” Jasper nodded, cleaning the little tables in the parlor. „An awesome one, preferably.”  


„We could just wait-,” Miller started, but Jasper shook his head determinately. 

„We have waited half a summer,” Jasper said, silently recounting the weeks in his head. „I say it’s about time.”  


„Octavia’s gonna punch you,” Miller mused before returning to cleaning the counter.  


„Me?” Jasper asked, laughing, „dude, we’re gonna be in this together. She’s gonna punch your perfect teeth too.”  


„Is it really worth damaging my perfectly fine teeth, Jasper?”  


„Love’s always worth it,” Jasper replied. Miller rolled his eyes before shaking his head, grinning. 

„Sure thing, mister love boat. Do you have any ideas yet?”  


„Nope,” Jasper chirped, „that’s kinda why I need your brain.”  


„You need my brain now?” Miller raised his eyebrows. „And here I was, thinking I’d be save from a zombie-apocalypse…”  


„You make it sound like you don’t actually have a brain, Miller,” Jasper noted, amused, „Funny.”. 

„Shut up, Jordan,” Miller scoffed, but he couldn’t help his smile. There was no venom in his voice, it was just some banter between the two colleagues. 

„Obviously, one of us would have to work the shift here,” Jasper mused, mind racing. Miller looked up.  


„So that would probably be me,” he reasoned.  


„Yeah,” Jasper agreed. „At what time does he usually walk by?”  


„Around eleven o’clock, I think,” Miller answered after thinking for some time. „Sometimes at two in the afternoon.”  


„Good,” Jasper said, sitting backwards on one of the plastic seats, waiting for Miller to finish up cleaning. „So how does one lure a dog-walker into an ice cream parlor?”  


„At eleven in the morning,” Miller added, putting away the cleaning supplies. There was a silence that followed, allowing both boys to think. Neither of them could come up with something.  


„Maybe we should start by waving.”  


„Yeah,” Jasper agreed, „we probably should.”  


 

* * *

 

 

Octavia -of course- had noticed that her colleagues had started waving at the mysterious and handsome strangers walking the dogs everyday.  


„What are you doing?” she hissed at Jasper, who was smiling brightly at the muscled man and waving his arm in a ridiculous fashion. She elbowed him in his side, but he did not stop. „You are confusing our customers.  


„Am not,” Jasper still smiled, eyes flicking to the old man ogling the different flavors of ice cream.  


„Fine,” Octavia sighed. „But why are you waving?”  


„Because,” Jasper said, trying to think of an excuse without revealing their brilliant plan, „he looks nice.”  
He shrugged.

Octavia squinted her eyes. The man, in fact, did not look _nice_. He was tall and handsome and had tattoos all over his arms. He looked active, slightly intimidating, and like he had stepped out of a male underwear modeling advert. He did not look nice.

She could smell Jasper’s bullshit with a severe cold.

Octavia rolled with her eyes while Jasper kept on grinning.  
  
„Plus,” Jasper added, after finally having stopped waving, „he actually waves back.”

 

* * *

 

„I hereby declare our plan as miserably failed and completely your fault,” Miller announced whilst walking down the boulevard with Jasper. Jasper stopped to look Miller in the eyes, confused.  


„Why, exactly?”  


„One, Octavia practically walked out of the store to say hi to the dude so we would stop waving at him everyday,” Miller started, holding up his right hand with his index finger outstretched.  


„That doesn’t sound like a failure to me,” Jasper shrugged, continuing to walk. Around them the boulevard was seizing; groups of people came spilling out of shops and cafés, places like Arkadia -their locale arcade- and restaurants.  


„We bullied Octavia out of the parlor.”  


„We bullied Octavia into a date,” Jasper corrected, grinning. Miller snorted, shaking his head, before sighing.  


„We bullied me into a date.” His eyes darted across the horizon, barely registering what he just had said.  


„Wait, what?” Jasper almost tripped over his own feet. „And weren’t you saying it was completely my fault? So- I did…bully you into a date?” The confusion was visible on his face. „How did that happen?”  
„I’m glad you asked,” Miller said, smile mischievous. Jasper groaned. „So you know how our brilliant plan was to wave at that guy every day, right?” Jasper nodded. „Who passes by everyday around eleven. Except for today. Which is how I ended up waving at this complete stranger- who looked merely confused, before crossing the street and walking straight into the store.”  
  
Octavia had had a laughing fit, standing next to Miller, who was rapidly losing his cool the closer the stranger got.

„Karma,” Octavia had hiccuped, then spotted the dog-walker. „I’m gonna leave you to it. I think I have someone to introduce myself to.” And with that she had walked out of the ice-cream parlor, which had been completely empty except for the one confused boy.  


„Hi,” he had said, fumbling with his hands.  


„How can I help you?” Miller had asked out of habit, eying the boy standing in front of him.  


„Ehm, I-„ the boy looked around the parlor, as if he just noticed that he was standing inside one. „Ice-cream,” he noted, then started to stutter. „S-sorry, I never noticed this until-„ his eyes darted across the room until landing on Miller. He let out a small breath and finished his sentence in a small voice, „you.”. 

Miller could feel his face heat up, even though he could not exactly pinpoint why. There was something about the boy’s honesty that made something inside him stir.  
God, he was cute.

„Glad to lure in new customers,” Miller smiled, shifting a bit, trying to keep his cool.  


„Yeah,” the boy said, regaining posture. „Glad to have walked in.” He smiled at Miller. „Can I ask why you were waving?”  


„Mostly habit,” Miller answered, a bit ashamed. „There’s this guy-„ The boy’s smile slightly fell. Miller quickly shook his head, trying to correct whatever misunderstanding there impended to be. Miller looked out the window, where he could see Octavia chatting to the guy with the dogs; one of the dogs was trying to lick Octavia’s leg.

„That guy-„ he pointed at the man talking to Octavia, „I usually wave at him.”

The boy turned around to see who Miller was talking about. When he turned around again, his brows were furrowed. The look lasted a mere second before leaving his face.

„Well, I’m glad you waved,” he decided, smiling at Miller. Miller could feel something in him flutter, smiled back. The boy’s eyes darted across his chest and back to his face. „Nathan,” he added, after reading Miller’s nametag. Then he looked around the parlor again. „Is there something you can recommend?”  


„You mean, apart from going on a date with me?” Miller said before he knew it. His eyes widened while he internally cursed. He didn’t even know if the boy liked guys. _Way to scare new customers away, Nathan._ „Ehr, our coupe tropical is very good. I mean, if you don’t ha- ve allergies,” he silently finished while looking at the boy, who was looking directly at him, face red, but undeniably smiling. 

„I’d have the date, please,” the boy smiled, „and the coupe Tropicale.”  


„Cool,” Miller breathed, heart pounding in his chest. „Nathan Miller, by the way.”  


„Bryan,” the boy said. „Should I pick you up after work?” 

 

„So you bullied yourself into getting a date by waving at the wrong person?” Jasper finally asked, brows furrowed. Miller sighed.  
„Yes.”  
„Dude, that’s awesome!” Jasper grinned, bumping Millers shoulder. „Congratulations.”

 

* * *

 

 

 

When there were about two weeks of summer left, Jasper realized he now was the only one who hadn’t had any dates. Octavia had her fair share of dates with the dog-walker, who was apparently called Lincoln and wasn’t at all as intimidating as he seemed. Jasper was fairly sure he and Octavia were going to be a thing; they were happy together. Octavia’s face always lighted up when he walked past the parlor; he always waved. Miller’s date with Bryan turned out to be quite successful, even though Miller kept saying that it wasn’t that special. It was a lie, Jasper could tell by the look in his eyes. They were both completely smitten.  
The thought suddenly occurred to him while he was moving the cart to a particularly secluded area of the boulevard; he wasn’t in the mood for a tidal wave of people only pointing at a vague direction to indicate which flavor of ice-cream they wanted.  
Jasper wondered if the honey-voiced boy would be there again. After the first time he had seen the boy twice; once on duty and once off duty. He had smiled at him, shortly but sweet, donating a few dollars, depositing the bills in the guitar case. He hadn’t said anything. 

He wished he had. 

Jasper knew he had a crush on the boy, had have since their first meeting; it was just everything. His voice, eyes, smile. His vibrant energy. Jasper was enchanted.

The whole day passed without the boy being anywhere in sight. Jasper couldn’t help but feel disappointed, somehow having hoped for the other boy to be around. All in all, the day hadn’t been too horrible. Bryan and Miller had dropped by during lunch, being disgustingly cute together. Bryan had almost pushed Miller’s nose into his ice cream, which was ridiculously hilarious to Jasper. Miller had mainly smiled at his boyfriend. 

„Hey,” a voice shook Jasper out of his thoughts. „Can I still order?”  


J asper looked up to find the street musician, guitar slung over his shoulder. He had been about to close the cart, but the boy had been just in time. Jasper nodded.  


„Oh, thank God,” the other boy muttered. „I’ve been trying to find this cart for weeks.”  


„We’re never that far,” Jasper said.  


„I know now,” the boy answered, panting slightly yet smiling. „It’s just that I couldn’t remember where I had gotten that chocolate-vanilla ice cream. I think I might’ve been at every ice cream parlor around.”

Jasper’s heart skipped.

„Yet here you are.”  


„Yet here I am,” the boy agreed, „I’m glad I found you.”  


„Well, we do have the best ice cream in the city,” Jasper nodded. „What can I get you?” 

„Same thing as the last time,” the boy said, shifting his weight from one leg to another. 

„Sure thing, one vanilla and chocolate ice-cream coming up,” Jasper chirped, trying to be smooth and not drop anything. His hands were slightly shaking, but he managed to put together a few decent looking scoops. „Here you go,” he said while handing over the cone, „one of Azgeda’s finest.”  


„Thank you,” the boy smiled, exchanging his cash for the cone. „I’ll come and find you next time.”  


„You better,” Jasper laughed, „can’t risk losing you to one of our rivals.”  


„You won’t,” the boy said, still smiling. „I’m Monty, by the way.”  


„Jasper,” Jasper introduced himself. „I would shake your hand, if that didn’t mean inevitably dropping your ice-cream.” 

Monty laughed.

 

* * *

 

„So, there’s this boy who has been singing near this cart-„ Miller started. Octavia raised her eyebrows.

„Yes?” she asked, clearly not knowing where the story was heading.  


„I think I’ve seen him around a few times.”  


„What’s your point?”  


„Do you think Jasper is hiding something?”  


„Like his comic book collection?” Octavia laughed.  


„What- no,” Miller said, face scrunched. „No, I mean- the boy.”  


„You think Jasper has been hiding a boy? Easy on the accusations there, Miller.”  


„I hate you,” Miller mumbled heartedly.  


„You don’t,” Octavia reminded him. „I’m just teasing. Spill the milk, Miller.” 

„There’re only two options here, really. One, he does have a thing with the guy, or two, he has a thing for the guy and he’s just really oblivious.”  


„Ten dollars it’s the latter,” Octavia said, remembering how oblivious Jasper had been when Maya had tried to flirt with him when they were in high school together. Miller made a surprised noise.  


„Sure,” he said, sending Octavia a look she couldn’t pinpoint. „You’re on.”  


 

* * *

 

 

There was only one week of summer left. Jasper was working the shift in Azgeda’s parlor, standing next to Octavia. The day had been okay so far. There hadn’t been a lot of bustle; most people wereprobably off to the beach to catch the last rays of sunshine before they were off to work or uni or school once again. Jasper couldn’t really blame them: the weather had been exquisite. 

„So how about that boy?” Octavia asked, shaking Jasper awake.  


„Which boy?” he asked, confused.  


„The asian one with the guitar,” she said, shrugging. „When I worked the boulevard shift yesterday I saw him loitering around. Miller told me he’d seen him a few times around too.” 

Jasper’s face lightened up. 

„Monty,” he said. „Did you hear him sing? His voice is great.”  


„Monty?” Octavia asked, wondering why Jasper did know the name of the boy. Maybe she was going to lose the bet, after all. 

„Yeah,” Jasper nodded, staring dreamingly into space. „He introduced himself the second time he got ice-cream.” He looked at Octavia. „He really likes our ice-cream.”  


„Uhuh,” Octavia said, not sounding convinced at all. Jasper’s brow furrowed.

„He buys one every time,” Jasper elaborates, „at the end of my shift down the boulevard. We usually talk. He’s pretty cool.”

Octavia’s eyes widened.  


„Oh Jasper,” she sighed, big smile on her face. She then started to laugh, mumbling to herself and shaking her head. The boy had obviously been flirting with Jasper. The whole time. „You know he’s been flirting with you?”  
Jasper dropped the ice cream scoop he was holding, the metal clattering against the floor tiles.

„What?” he stumbled, face turning red in a matter of seconds. „No, I- I would’ve-„ he stuttered, rewinding the days at the boulevard. „Oh my god.”  


 

* * *

 

  _„mother / mother, i take your wisdom_

_set out upon an open sea_

_no matter how long i stay and listen_

_will it be enough to set me free?”_

The customers were rushing by, faces turning into nothing more than a blur. Jasper’s heart was pounding as he was aware of the voice accompanying him while he was working his shift. While he was aware of the boy tho whom the voice belonged.  
How had he been so blind?  
God, did this mean he might actually have a shot?

Only one hour to go. Summer was coming to an end. 

„Hey,” a voice said. The singing and strumming had stopped. Jasper recognized the voice. „Penny for your thoughts?”  


„A song for an ice-cream?”  
Monty grinned.

„Seems like a fair deal to me,” he took his guitar out of its case. Jasper closed the cart, taking place in front of it, next to where Monty was sitting. Monty started playing a song, slow and sweet, making Jasper’s heart stutter. Their knees were touching, and Jasper was well aware that it was the closest they’d ever been. It distracted him well enough to not recognize the song as a lovesong. He turned to look at Monty; sunlight was shining through his hair, his fingers dancing over the neck of the guitar. For a moment, it was only this; Monty singing and Jasper listening. 

Jasper had to regain posture when Monty was finished.  


„That was beautiful,” Jasper said, earnestly, getting up again. Monty’s cheeks were a pinkish color.  


„Thank you,” he said, „I’ll have the usual.” He put away his guitar again while Jasper prepared the ice. Both of the boys took place in front of the ice-cream cart once again, Jasper softly chatting away about his day and some crazy customers. They had been getting used to this; a habit they had grown into. They both enjoyed it more than they’d probably admit. 

„I like this,” Jasper admitted, not doing anything in particular with his hands, but still moving them. Monty agreed, nodding, eating the last bit of the cone. He turned to look at Jasper, who was looking at him. For a moment, both boys were taken aback by the sudden eyecontact. Jasper’s heart skipped a beat.  


„You got something-„ he gestured towards Monty’s face, hand already reaching out. Monty could feel his heart thump, ferociously. Jasper was almost cupping his face with one hand.

„Let me - get-„ Jasper’s eyes traveled down.  


„Jasper,” Monty said, with a kind of urge Jasper couldn’t place, „if you don’t kiss me on this ridiculously cliché moment, I will-„ he could see Jasper flash red before surging forward, closing the distance between them. Jasper was cupping Monty’s face with one hand, lips pressed to the other boy’s, heart fluttering and thumping thumping thumping. He was kissing Monty.  
_He was kissing Monty._

They both ended up a little breathless.

„Oh,” Jasper said, eyes dazed, heart still pounding.  


„Oh,” Monty agreed, licking his lips.  


„We should- do that again sometime,” Jasper said, eyes darting from Monty’s lips to his eyes to meet his gaze.  


„Yeah,” Monty nodded, meeting Jasper’s eyes. Their hands were touching. „I’m free tomorrow.”  


„Me too,” Jasper said, a smile creeping up on his face. „Should we get ice cream?”  
Monty laughed, brightly, lightly, then shook his head.

„I think I’ve had enough ice cream to last the summer.”  


„Well,” Jasper said, „who needs ice cream when you got someone as sweet and cool as me?”  


„I wouldn’t know,” Monty said, pulling Jasper closer. 

„Let’s find out,” Jasper smiled, raising one eyebrow mischievously.  


„Let’s not,” Monty grinned, and he pulled Jasper in for another kiss. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! If you liked it, please let me know!  
> the tiny lyric part is from Mother/Mother by Carry Hatchet, which can be found on both iTunes and Bandcamp :)


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